Some of the "sheds" being delivered to Paxton Academy's current temporary site in 2014 (Image: Grant Melton)

Sign up to FREE email alerts from croydonadvertiser - Daily

When you subscribe we will use the information you provide to send you these newsletters. Sometimes they’ll include recommendations for other related newsletters or services we offer. OurPrivacy Noticeexplains more about how we use your data, and your rights. You can unsubscribe at any time.

A Thornton Heath primary school governor has said a new Ofsted report raising safety and security issues is “incorrect” as well as “not fair and disheartening”.

Barrington Gooden, chair of governors of Paxton Academy Sports and Science school, added that he “cannot understand” why its teaching has been judged as “inconsistent”.

In a critical report, Paxton Academy Sports and Science’s temporary site in the grounds of Streatham-Croydon Rugby Club, in Brigstock Road, has left inspectors “concerned about the security of the site” when visiting in May.

Read More

Related Articles

A team of two inspectors, headed by Ruth Dollner, found that the academy free school, opened in 2014, “requires improvement” in every category and said the rate of persistent absence last year was almost double the national average.

Details of the report has damned the three-year-old school’s leadership and despite staff having focused on "improved outcomes" for pupils and on meeting the teachers’ standards those “efforts have not yet secured consistently good teaching”.

In a prepared statement, the school said it was in “dispute with Ofsted about the accuracy and therefore validity of several aspects of the report” and “in particular the issue of the security of the school site” while it stresses it was rated as “very safe by 100 per cent of parents recently”.

It also says that “the area that the Ofsted report refers to is a playing field which falls outside of the school’s boundary” which is used for a "small number" of weeks during the year.

Read More

Related Articles

Mr Gooden feels that the comments referring to the site not being safe are “an incorrect statement” and that the school site has been checked "regularly".

He stated that the school is allowed to use the rugby club’s playing fields for two hours a day, which they “hardly do” because it can get waterlogged but did at the time of the inspection and “had the right number of teachers out there” and that “a kid went onto the railings and he was immediately apprehended”.

He added: “We are exploring avenues in how we can get a redress. There are issues relating to the inspection.

“We need to get our permanent site that I have been working hard on. With the right facilities [at a permanent site] and resources, that's when I would hold my hands up and say that’s fair for someone to come in and say this.”

The Advertiser has approached Ofsted for a response on these claims.

When inspected on May 10 and May 11 earlier this year, the school for four to 11-year-olds had a total of 189 pupils.

The report published on Wednesday (September 13) said: “The quality of teaching, learning and assessment is uneven. Leaders have not secured lasting improvements. As a result, pupils’ progress is variable in reading, writing and mathematics.

“Outcomes in the early year’s provision have declined. Leaders have not been successful in sustaining good-quality teaching, learning and assessment in the reception year.”

It goes on to add that teaching can be “inconsistent” and “pupils lose focus quickly and low-level disruption in lessons is not uncommon” while “the lower-ability pupils often fail to complete tasks because they are too difficult” and that “some pupils depend on constant adult support to be successful and do not always have the resources they need”.

The report highlights issues over the schoolchildren being forced to study in what has previously been described as “sheds” and a “despicable" situation”.

It adds that "the limited space in the temporary site is a cause of frustration for some pupils".

"The need to share resources or take turns with equipment leads to minor conflicts between pupils in classrooms and in the outdoor spaces, but adults manage this situation well."

Plans were put forward to Croydon Council to gain permission to finally construct the long-awaited building London Road, but despite being recommended for approval by officers the proposal was rejected at a meeting of the planning committee earlier this year on Thursday, April 20.